I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! I am genuinely excited for this day! As I sit here and type, I am very mindful that what tomorrow, the next day, the next week, month and year(s) look like will be impacted by how I live this day! :)
I know what I am going to write about this morning, I just don't know exactly where this will all go. There is so much in my heart that I had trouble sleeping last night, thinking about this post. I pray for God's guidance, wisdom and strength! I pray that God will prepare the hearts of the people that will read this message and that they will receive it and that it will serve the purpose(s) He intends.
I have learned so much this week. I could share with you my perspective on things however this would be the perspective a 52-year old white man who lives with his wife and 3 sons in a nice house. A man who has been blessed beyond measure in so many aspects of life. It would be a very, very narrow view of this world. As we look and see the things that are happening in this world, may I please implore us to realize that our views, individually, are merely shaped by the lives we have lived, the experiences we have had...it is our individual perspectives. While you, your life, is so precious and so valuable, it is only one, very narrow view of this world...just like mine.
Over the course of the last week, there has been a critically important segment of our society that has been begging for our help. They have actually been begging for our help for hundreds of years...unfortunately, some of us are just now truly listening. Their hurt, their pain, their struggle is real. My heart hurts as I think of the unanswered cries for help...
I am going to share several things this morning...things I have heard and learned from listening to others. You see, I meant it when I said that my perspective is too narrow. As I thought and prayed about everything that is going on I felt a strong conviction in my spirit to do two things; 1) Listen. Genuinely listen to gain an understanding of what others are saying. 2) Seek to understand the perspective of another. If I am talking, I am only telling you what I know. If I share my perspective, I am only sharing my little narrow perspective. This, all of this, is so much bigger than me and I need to learn, grow and become better.
On Wednesday night our church held a conversation on racism. Our Pastor was joined by Pastor Cornell Jordan from Metro Assembly in Youngstown, OH. Pastor Cornell is a black man and our Pastor is a white man. There conversation was beautiful, inspiring, and challenging. I would like to share a few excerpts of the things I learned.
When asked by Pastor Steve what we can do to help, Pastor Cornell stated:
- It is not enough to know that something is wrong
- We must say that what is happening is wrong
- We must act to correct the wrong
One of the Pastors, I am sorry, I do not remember which one, stated:
- It is not enough to talk, you have gotta live it out
Then there was a wonderful conversation about distractions. Pastor Cornell, in great, Godly wisdom pointed out that distractions are a weapon of the enemy. What is the issue? Racism, plain and simple. And we want to get in arguments about whose fault it is, how people should protest, what people should say, think and do, etc. Distractions! Let us not get distracted by the noise of this world! The fact is, black people are being treated unequally and they are being murdered because of the color of their skin! That is the point, the only point that matters, and we cannot allow it to get lost in the noise!
And then there is the distraction of Black Lives Matter. I want to share two things I heard/read this week that helped me understand all of this so much more clearly.
When Pastor Cornell was asked about it, he gave the example of a house on fire. The firefighters come and they fight the fire at the house that is on fire. They don't stop by all of the other houses on the way to the fire. They, at that moment, don't need the Fire Department. The house that is on fire, they desperately need the Fire Department, now! Our black brothers and sisters house is on fire! They need us NOW!
And then I saw a picture on Facebook of a beautiful little black girl with a sign that reads:
WE SAID -> BLACK LIVES MATTER
NEVER SAID -> ONLY BLACK LIVES MATTER
WE KNOW -> ALL LIVES MATTER
WE JUST NEED YOUR HELP
WITH #BLACKLIVESMATTER
FOR BLACK LIVES are in DANGER!
It totally makes sense to me and I totally get it! It is a cry for help, it is a call to action! And now, you and I WILL make a choice!
And then there are the "yeah but's." Our Pastor brought this one up. When Jesus encountered someone that needed help did he say, "yeah but" and then point out their fault, their weakness, their issue that may or may not have contributed to whatever problem they are having? Does He do that to you or me? No, no He doesn't...Praise the Lord! So, can we please stop with the "yeah but's"? Can you imagine your child being hurt or injured because they are, well, kids and you run up to them, see the injury and decide not to help because "yeah you are injured but"? Crazy, right? I am not even going to ask you what the difference is because there isn't one!
I want to wrap this up by sharing a couple of quotes/excerpts. The first quote I want to share I shared with my work family earlier this week. Ever been scared to say something because you don't know exactly what to say? Or you don't know the right words? Let me let you and I off the hook here before sharing the quote; there are no "right" words. There are only true, pure words spoken in love. None of us know what to say because there are no words that can fix the problem, heal broken hearts, return senselessly lost lives...but we show up and we speak words in love anyways because that is the right thing to do. Now, for the quote:
"Don't worry about having the right words; worry more about having the right heart." - Max Lucado
Yes! Please Lord, give me the right heart. Please help me see what you see. I pray the scales will fall off my eyes. I pray that my heart will be softened. I pray that what breaks your heart will break mine. I pray for an end to racism TODAY! I pray you will radically change hearts! I pray you will not only give me the eyes to see and the heart to care but that you will give me the wisdom to say what needs to be said and the strength and courage to do what needs to be done! Please lead guide and direct me Lord. And, please Lord, wrap your loving arms around my black brothers and sisters. I pray they will know their deep, eternal, worth in You. I pray that your peace will fall on them right now, in this moment. I pray you will heal their hearts. Please protect them Lord. Please let them know that they are loved, valued, and cherished by so many. Amen!
I want to wrap this up for today - the battle will gone on the rest of my earthly life! - with an excerpt, and a slightly edited excerpt, from the book On Fire: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life by John O'Leary.
John defines an inflection points as "a moment in time that changes everything that follows."
And then my slightly edited version of something I read this morning - a call to us all!
This is our inflection point. This is our moment. This is our chance to change, to step forward, to move swiftly, to act courageously, and to risk our lives for theirs!
Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.
Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious families and please stay safe.
Kev
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